Method of treating fibrous material



Patented Dec. 27, 1938 UNITE/D STAT 9 Claims.

greasing fibrous material include principally fats,.

oils', waxes, paraffin and other highmolecular hydrocarbons and alsomineral oils and higher fatty acids, such as stearic acid, palmitic acidand oleic acid. There are, however, cases in which it will not sufficefor the fibres readily to absorb the agents'used, but it is desirablethat after the operations on the fibrous material the agents should bereadily removable from the fibre either partially or entirely as utilitymay require. In addition to these properties, it is desirable that theagents used should meet several other'requirements. They should notinjure the fabric or otherwise affect itobjectionably, as, for example,by making it tacky or otherwise giving it an unpleasant feel. It isfurther important that the agents used, especially if they are to beleft in the fibre either permanently or for a considerable time, shouldbe non-odorous and as far as possible neutral and not subject todecomposition 'under the action of light and air. Theymust be asstableas possible and have no corroding effect on machinery and applianceswith which the ma- METHOD OF TREATING rmnous MATERIAL- Walther Schrauth,Berlin-Dahlem, Germany No Drawing. Application. June -1, ms, Serlal No.82,917. In Germany July 27, 1928 I ES HPATEQIT OFFICE Russ-urn its 25194 combined therewith. The presence of the sul- 'fonates makes itpossible to form, emulsions of the alcohols in water. The necessity forusing the solvents heretofore used is thus eliminated ina particularlysatisfactory manner in that the sulfonates themselves have 'a desirableeffect upon the fibre.

The sulfonates possess an excellent wetting out and dispersing power.Owing to this they promote in mixture with the alcohols the penetratingeffect. of the alcohols in the fibre. In this manner they impart to thefibre a most stable smoothness. 0n the other hand regarding theemulsifying properties of the sulfonates the mix .tures of the alcoholsand the sulfonates can be removed, if necessary, more easily by meansof. water.

' The aforesaid alcohols are perfectly neutral and non-odorous and theyhave no detrimental terial 'comes in contact during the processesofmanufacture. A.

Greasing agents heretofore used have been only partly satisfactory.Waxes and hydrocarbons are difilcult to remove from the fibre. The fattyacids are not always neutral to the fibre and above all they\have ahighly corrosive effect on working appliances. of the fatty acidspenetrate the fibre and can be removed only with great difficulty. Fatsand oils The heavy metal salts.

are decomposed by the action. of light and airand turn rancid and theresultant fatty acids act upon the metal parts of working appliances.The higher molecular fatty alcohols including the so-called wax alcoholshaving from 8 to 30 -carbon atoms such as the octyl, decyl, lauryl,myristyl, cety l, stearyl, hexadecenyl, oleyl, ricinoleyl, linoleyl,dihydroxy octadecane, eicosyl, carnaubyl, ceryl, 'cerotyl and myricyloffer most, of the advantages of v the greasing materials here-'combined with the fatty alcohols.

efiect whatever on the fibre and on the working appliances. Moreoverthey are absolutely stable to the action 'of light and air.

When used for greasing, the alcohols mentione have also the property .ofimparting to the fibre great'suppleness, insensitiveness to water andresistance to deleterious chemical action, since they are highlyresistant to the action of chemical agents.

' Any of the fatty alcohols, thatis to say the primary aliphaticsaturated and unsaturated alcohols having 8 to 30 carbon atoms in themolecule may be used but the most satisfactory are those having 12 to 18carbon'atoms in the molecule.

It has been discovered further in accordance with the present inventionthat naphthenic alcohols can be advantageously used instead of or thenicalcohols'may be used either alone .or as tofore used andar'e free frommost of the disad- -'vantages. These alcohols are particularlyefi'ectlve when used for the treatment of threads, fibres and fabrics ofwool, cotton, natural and emulsions in combination with the sulfonatesof the fatty alcohols or of the sulfonates'of naphthenic alcohols. Theyhave a somewhat different effect than the fatty'alcohols in use. Forexample, they are according to their smaller water The naphthe fibre.This effect is very important in such cases, in which the fibres areimpregnated only during a working operation of the manufacture. Byimpregnating with the 'naphthenic alcohols one even obtains on the fibrea certain moisture content, which prevents the drying up of the fibre,that no moistening of the factory rooms is necessary. Furthermore thenaphthenic alcohols have on account of their certain amount of sulfurcompounds a valuable disinfecting power,

which protects the fibre against mould and other damages. 7

A composition consisting of alcohols selected from the above mentionedgroups, especially those saturated primary aliphatic alcohols havingfrom 12 to 18 carbon atoms or. the unsaturated primary aliphaticalcohols having 16 to 22 rcarbon atoms, combined with sulfonatesof thealcohols of the same group provides a particularly effective andvaluable treating composition. The proportion of sulfonate may vary overa wide range in accordance with the results desired. Ordinarily from 0.5to 75% of sulfonate in the mixture gives agood mixture for usualcommercial purposes. About 5% is probably most satisfactory forgreasing'fibres. If it is desired that the treating material shallremain in the fibrous material nly during the working operations andshall be s bstantially,entirelywashed out thereafter, a largerproportion of sulfonate, as for example, about. 10% is desirable. If onthe other hand it is desired that a substantial proportion of thealcohol shall be retained in the fibrous material after themanufacturing operations are completed in order to condition thematerial as, for, example, to render it water resistant or to give asoft handle, then a composition having less sulfonate, for example about0.5%, will be found more satisfactory.

Mixtures of parafiin oil. and oleyl alcohol, wherein the parafiin oil isfrom 20 to of the mixture to which may be added from 0.5 to 50% of asulfonate, as for example lauryl sulfate are particularly suitable forgreasing purposes.

These compositions may also be-combined with.

other treating agents toward which they are neutral. Good results areobtained, for example, by using them conjointly with emulsions of fattysubstances, oils, waxes, hydrocarbons, mineral oils and the like.

Compositions containing alcohol and a sulfonate are particularlyeffective for. use in acid baths such as dyeing, and in mercerizing andthe like baths, because they are not decomposed by the acids andalkalies usually used.

The compositions are effective for brightening and sizing ofartificialfibres, threads, or fabrics and for the greasing of wool to beworked up into worsted yarn. They are advantageously employed in themanufacture of artificial-threads. For example inmaking viscose silkeven a comparatively small aniount of the alcohols mentioned, or betterst 11, a mixture of thealco'hols .and their sulfonates added in the formof emulsions to the highly concentrated sulfuric acid precipitating bathwill be sufiicient to prevent the sticldng of the threads and protectthem from the injurious. action of the sulfuric acid.

, The alcohols and the sulfonates combined water. v

Example 1 For the sizing of artificial silk one may use an aqueousemulsion containing 5% of wool fat alcohol which contains 8% of thesodium sulfate of a concentrated emulsion of 0.75 part of myristylalcohol, 2.5 parts of cetyl alcohol and 0.17 part of sodium laurylsulfonate 20 parts of Example 3 v A good loading-and finishingcomposition is, obtained by working up 150mm ofdextrine, 80 parts ofpotato starch, 3 parts of cetyl alcohol, 1 part of oleyl alcohol, 5parts of a 30% aqueous paste of the sodium salt of oleyl alcoholsulfuric 35 acid ester to an aqueous emulsion together with the desiredamount of a loading material such as kaolin, china clay or the like.

Example 5 0 'A finishing composition may also be prepared by emulsifying150 parts of dextrine, 2 parts of stearyl alcohol and 5 parts of a 30%aqueous {oleyl alcohol sulfonate paste per litre of water and adding thedesiredamount .of loading substances such as kaolin, china clay or thelike.

Example 6 2% naphthenic alcohol and 0.3 to 0.5% of the sodium salt ofthe true sulfonic acid of myrlstln alcohol are added to the carbonizingacid usually employed, i. e., sulphuric acid of about 4 Be. By thisadmixture one obtains a ready and perfectly uniform wetting of thefibres.

Example 7 An impregnating bath for cotton fabrics which will impart asoft handle to thefabrics is obtained by adding 3 parts of naphthenicalcohol and 0.17 part of the sodium salt of the sulfuric acid ester ofthe naphthenic alcohol to parts of water.

Example 8 An excellent'avivage eifecton woolmay be obtained byimpregnating the wool with a solution of 3.5 parts of naphthenic alcoholin 100 parts of trichlorethylene. After impregnating the wool issqueezed ofland the excess of the solvent is removed.

Example 9 Prior to the spinning operation the woolmay be softened withan aqueous emulsion containing 18% of mineral oil, 5% of naphthenicalcohol and 5% of the sodium salt of the'sulphuric acid cute 75 of theoleyl alcohol. This impregnation can easily be removed after operation.

The foregoing particular description is illus-- trative merely and isnot intended as defining the limits of the invention.

This application is a continuation in part of .the applicant's copendingapplication, Serial No. 671,010, filed May 13, 1933.

I claim: 7

1. The method of treating natural or finished artificial textile fibresor fabrics to enhance their fitness for working and to improve theirquality which comprises applying thereto an emulsion of alcohol of thegroup consisting of the primary aliphatic alcohols containing 8 to 30carbon atoms in the molecule and the naphthenic alcohols with asulfonate of an alcohol of such group.

2. The method of treating natural or finished artificial textile fibresor fabrics to enhance their fitness for working and to improve theirquality which comprises applying thereto an emulsion of high molecular,primary aliphatic alcohol con- I taining 8 to 30 carbon atoms in themolecule with a sulfonate of such an alcohol.

3. The method of treating natural or finished artificial textile" fibresor fabrics to enhance their.

which comprises applying thereto an emulsion of naphthenic alcohol witha sulfonate of naphthenic alcohol.

5. The method of treating natural or finished artificial textile fibresor fabrics to enhance their fitness for working and to improve their.quality which comprises applying thereto an emulsion of naphthenicalcohol with a sulfonate of an alcohol of the group consisting of theprimary allphatic alcohols containing 8 to 30 carbon atoms in themolecule.

6. The method of treating natural or artificial textile fibres orfabrics according to claim 1 wherein the sulfonate is equal to 0.5 to75% of the weight of the alcohol.

7. The method of treating natural fibrous material to enhance itsfitness for working and applying thereto naphthenic alcohols and the re-'to improve the quality thereof which comprises action products of thesealcohols with sulfuric 7 acid.

8. The method of treating natural fibrous material to enhance itsfitness for working and to 12 to 18 carbon-atoms in'the molecule.

9. The method of treating natural or finished artificial textile'fibresor fabrics to enhance their fitness for working and to improve theirquality which comprises applying thereto an emulsion improve the qualitythereof which comprises 'ap plying thereto an emulsion of naphthenicalcohol and a sulfonate of an aliphatic alcohol having

